


What Are Friends For?

by zombiecupcake



Category: Santa Clarita Diet (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 04:41:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10072223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiecupcake/pseuds/zombiecupcake
Summary: Abby was at a total loss after chaining her mother up. She thought she was all alone in the world. Wasn't she glad to find out she wasn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. This is just a random little scene I've had in my head since finishing Santa Clarita Diet. Enjoy.

She was oh so royally screwed. Abby closed the basement door and leaned her head back, slowly sliding down the door. She had just delivered the last of the 'meat' her mother had brought home from the storage unit. She didn't need the police figuring out what that was if they really did show up and start snooping. She would worry about the bodies in the freezer later.

Abby's mind wondered back to chaining her mother up. It had been surreal. Her mother still had that easy going smile on her face she had gained since becoming one of the undead. She had chatted with Abby, telling her what she and her father had been doing in an attempt to make the Baka throw up. Abby couldn't help the laugh that had escaped when her mother had told her about putting the bucket on her head and spinning her in a chair. It was an interesting mental image after all.

The seriousness of the whole situation hadn't even hit Abby until after. Until she was standing in a near empty house, nothing but her mother and a stupid book she couldn't read and stupid equipment she didn't know how to use. That was when Abby really had wanted to cry, instead she had squeezed her hands so tight into fists and told herself that she couldn't cry, she didn't have time. She had to make the house presentable in case the cops did show. She had to have a cover story to explain her mother's absence, and there was still some chance that she may just start convulsing uncontrollably, maybe for the rest of her life.

"Abby?" the noise startled Abby out of her current state of despair. She looked straight at the kitchen entry way, just in time to see Eric walk in looking around. Abby said nothing as she sat there, allowing his eyes to roam around her family kitchen turned lab until they landed on her.

"Hey," she said, trying her best to sound normal, rather than defeated. Judging by the look Eric gave her, she hadn't done a very good job.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Eric asked confused, coming to slide down the wall to rest beside her.

"I chained my mom up in the basement,"" she said, turning to face Eric and flicking her head in the direction on the door behind her. "My dad has been arrested and Dr. Wolf is gone," until that point Abby hadn't actually said any of the words out loud, and now she wished she hadn't at all. Speaking the words had finally made the whole thing so real. The combination look on Eric's face didn't help either. There was confusion, sympathy and slight fear, and maybe panic to match her own. Seeing the motions she felt expressed on the one person who had been by her side the whole way through this finally broke her.

Abby wasn't sure what possessed her to do it, but next thing she knew, she was diving at Eric, wrapping her arms around his chest and pressing her face into the spot above his heart, the sound loud and strong. She stayed like that a moment, Abby realizing how tense Eric was. She was about to pull away when Eric shifted them, wrapping his arms around her, pulling his knees up, she could feel them press against her hips and her lower ribs, and placed his cheek on her hair.

"God, Abby. I'm so sorry, we'll he through this, " he told her, squeezing tight, causing her tears to finally fall. She didn't sob, but she also didn't try and wipe the tears, too much wanting this comfort. She didn't think at any point in her memory she would have expected herself to be seeking comfort for her super weird neighbour, but here she was, clinging to him for dear life.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that. Just holding onto Eric and listening to his head beat, and the soft soothing sounds he made, even after the tears had dried up. She hadn't even noticed her eyes had closed until she had another sound and opened them to determine the source. It took her a second to realize the sound had been her stomach.

 

"That's kind of embarrassing. Didn't even realize I was hungry," Abby stated, still making no move to pull away. She could feel the rumble of Eric's responding chuckles go through her torso.

"Guess we should get you something to eat then," Eric told her lightly, gently shrugging his shoulders to get Abby to pull back. She took her time pulling back, and quickly scanned Eric's shirt to make sure that she hadn't left any wet spots or snot trails.

"Uhh, do you wanna order pizza?" Eric asked as he pushed against the wall to slide up. He then offered his hands to Abby, and awkwardly pulled her up. Abby took a few steps back from Eric once on her feet, now slightly uncomfortable with their proximity.

"Yeah, sure. I could go for some pizza," Abby said, moving to the drawer where she knew her mother kept all the take out menus. She pulled out the menu for her current favourite place and walked back to Eric. "Hey, do you mind ordering? I could really use a shower," she asked as she held the menu out to him. Abby had only now realized that the sun was starting to finally slip below the horizon, an she hadn't showered sine the afternoon the day before. Besides, pizza was supposed to be eaten in pyjamas with wet hair and zero makeup.

"I think I can handle this challenging task solo," Eric replied taking the menu from her hand and instantly starting to browse it.

"Thank you, I won't be long," Abby promised him as she turned from the door. 

"Take your time Abby, won't start without you," he told her, but Abby didn't respond. Abby hadn't meant that she was hurrying on Eric's account. She didn't care if he ate without her, she knew he would leave her some anyways. The reason she had wanted to just hurry with her shower was the fact that she just didn't want to be alone.

When she got to her room Abby pulled out the first pair of pyjamas she could find and made her way to the bathroom, stopping a quick second at the linen closet to grab the biggest, fluffiest towel she could find in there.

When Abby got to the bathroom she turned the water on until it was as hot as she could stand then let it run as she undressed. She didn't want to take long, but she didn't rush either. She took her time washing her hair, messaging her scalp as she worked in the shampoo. The smell of honey was relaxing as she let the suds run down her face when she rinsed her hair.

When she was finally clean, Abby was pleased that the water hadn't begun to run cold, it had in fact been one of her faster showers. She towelled off and wrapped her hair up while she put moisturizer on her face and slathered herself with body lotion. She ran the towel over her head getting her hair from wet to damp then threw on her pyjamas, cotton shorts with ducks and a white tank top.

Abby could smell the pizza the second she came down the last step. Her stomach must have thought that she had forgotten about it because it made another noise as she walked into the kitchen. The pizza was on the breakfast bar, all the lids open so you could see what was on each one and Eric had managed to find glasses and plates which sat on one side of the pizzas.

"Smells awesome, " Abby said to announce her presence. She watched as Eric pulled his head from the fridge to smile at her.

"I may had ordered a little too much, but I figured you could eat some for the next few days while your mom's..." Here Eric paused, he’d been about to say chained in the basement. "I mean, I doubt she'll be down there long," Eric attempted to back pedal but he gave up when Abby shook her head.

"It's cool Eric. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all face hugger on you again," she told him as she picked up a plate and started to pile pizza on top. She then went to the fridge to pour herself a glass of water while Eric did the same.

"Did you wanna watch a movie? I think Indiana Jones is playing on channel 83," Eric suggested as he followed Abby into the family room.

"Sure, it's probably one of the only zombie free movies we'll find on a Friday night," Abby agreed, flopping unceremoniously onto the couch and picking up the remote to flick through the channels. She flicked the channel up button all the way to channel 83, giving Eric more time to situate himself, as he seemed to be going to great lengths to get himself comfortable

The movie was already half way through when Abby finally reached her desired channel. Indie had just been bashed over the head with a vase in his attempt to crawl through his father's 'prison' window.

"Gotta love Sean Connery," Eric stated, as Abby watched him pull the pizza from his face, the cheese stretching beyond what Abby had thought possible.

When the movie was done and they had both eaten more pizza than they should have, Eric reached over for the remote and turned the TV off "Well, it's getting late," he stated as he stretched out, turning his head to look at the clock. Abby's eyes followed his, only now realizing it was after midnight.

By the time the late hour had actually sunk in, Eric was already on his feet looking like he was ready to go to the door and make the short trek to his own home next door. The thought of Eric leaving her there alone suddenly made Abby panic. Without any conscious thought on what she was doing, Abby's hand shot out and grabbed his shirt sleeve. "Eric , wait!" she requested, moving to stand, now that she had managed to keep him there.

"Could you, uhh. What I mean is, would you mind staying? Please?" Abby asked, becoming more and more embarrassed by the minute, however she made no move to let go of his sleeve.

"Stay here? without? Alone?" Eric asked, his sentence breaking up into short phrases instead. Abby instantly felt bad, poor Eric looked like he was about to throw up. She dropped her hand and instead crossed her arms over her chest defensively

"I mean you don't have to. It was just a suggestion. Thought you'd wanna get playing with Dr, Wolf's fancy toys early tomorrow. You know, yeah, never mind." Abby could feel her cheeks getting redder and redder the more she rambled. She was already moving towards the kitchen, an attempt to run away from the awkward situation she had created when Eric spoke again.

"No, no! I'll stay. Just, just let me run home and brush my teeth and stuff, and let my mom know where I am," Eric told her quickly. "You should probably check on your mom too," Eric suggested before he went to the door, Abby waited until the door closed before going down to check on her mom.

"Mom? I'm heading to bed. Did you need anything?" Abby called as she made her way down the stairs. Her mother was still right where she had left her, the Tupper wear container she had brought down earlier empty.

Her mother looked away from her computer screen to give Abby a wide smile. "I think I'm good honey, but could you take this upstairs and toss it in the dishwasher please?" her mother asked of her, holding out the empty container, sliding the lid into it so that it was all together.

"Sure, and I'll stop by the storage until in the morning and pick you up some breakfast," Abby offered, though the idea of chiselling parts off a frozen human being did make her feel rather sick.

"Sounds good, sweetie. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep tight, I love you," Sheila told her with a bright motherly smile and blew Abby a kiss.

"Love you too, Mom," Abby told her before blowing her own kiss and heading back upstairs.

By the time Abby had tossed the container into the dishwasher and turned it on, Eric still hadn't returned. She decided she might as well get ready for bed, it had been an eventful day and she was dead tired. She sent a quick text to Eric telling him to come up stairs when he got there and asking him to turn off the lights and lock the door, before going upstairs herself.

At the top of the stairs Abby hesitated a moment. She first went towards her bedroom door then changed her mind, instead grabbing her toothbrush and went to her parents room. She brushed her hair with her mother's hair brush then used her fancy hand cream for the hell of it. By the time she heard the front door open and close she was just finishing brushing her teeth.

"Abby?" she heard Eric call and walked to the bedroom doorway, and leaned out.

"Over here," she told him, tilting her head back to indicate the room behind her. She eyed Eric as he moved towards the light coming out of the doorway. "Is that a sleeping bag?" Abby asked as she came to realize what he was holding in his hands.

"Ummm, yeah. I thought I would just, you know-"

"You thought I was going to make you sleep on the floor?" Abby asked rather amused, shaking her head. "Come on ya goof. There is room enough for 4 of un in this bed," Abby told him, motioning to her parents luxurious king sized bed.

She could see that look of hesitation and weird nerves Eric always seemed to exude when she pushed him out of his comfort zone. She rolled her eyes and took the sleeping bag from his arms and tossed it into the corner before pushing him in the direction of the bed and moving to the wall to turn off the main lights, leaving the room only lightly lit by a side lamp.

It seemed that Eric had just accepted his fate because when Abby turned around Eric was pulling back the sheets on one side of the bed. Abby decided it was all too easy, and that she wanted to see just how far she could push him. She figured she still owed him for the whole snack thing anyways.

"Due, that's my side. Push over," Abby said giving Eric no time to adjust and simply pulled the covers back that he had been holding and sliding in, essentially pushing him over with her body.

"Oh, sorry," Eric mumbled shifting, uncomfortably.

"It's cool. You good?" Abby asked reaching out to turn the switch on the light, though she waited for Eric to give the affirmative before plunging the whole room into total darkness. She shifted a little making herself comfortable, and then waited while Eric did the same. When the movement stopped Abby laid still, a grin on her face as she slowly counted to 100.

"Eric, I think something is wrong," Abby said, injecting some fear into her voice, forcing her leg to start shaking. "Eric. Eric I'm serious," she told him, her other leg starting to twitch. She gave it a second, but when he still didn't answer she figured she might as well go for broke and threw her whole body into it. It took a few seconds but the lights finally flew on and Eric was leaning over her, pressing her shoulders down.

"I'm not falling for it Abby. Good try though,"

"You're no fun," Abby frowned as she stopped her convulsions and Eric laid back down, turning off the light.

"You really did scare me you know. That injection could have really hurt you," Eric's words cut through the darkness, causing Abby to sigh.

"I know, and I', sorry to make you worry. You gotta think though, what would you do if it was your mom? I just wanted to help," Abby told him, rolling to her back to look at the ceiling, worry starting to seep back into her mind.

"I'm sorry we sent you to get snacks," Eric said, and Abby could feel him roll towards her.

"I know," Abby said through a yawn. She shimmied down to snuggle deeper into the blankets, turning her head towards Eric. She reached out her hand, searching for his. Once she had it she didn't give him the time to think, she pulled it with her own as she rolled on her side, bringing his arm about her body. She hugged his hand to her chest and closed her eyes, comforted by the presence of her best friend at her back.

"Thanks for being here," Abby said quietly, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

"What are friends for?" Eric asked, squeezing her hand back.


End file.
